


easy people

by girlmarauders



Category: Bon Appétit Test Kitchen RPF
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Who's better than us Vinny?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 03:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17113175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlmarauders/pseuds/girlmarauders
Summary: Brad plans a surprise for Vincent.





	easy people

**Author's Note:**

  * For [la_dissonance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_dissonance/gifts).



> Brad is an [absolute babe](https://www.bonappetit.com/story/brad-leone-its-alive)
> 
> title from [easy people](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbMVQdIpLL8)

“Hey, Vin, you wanna taste this?” Brad said, and held up a spoon. Vincent leaned back.

“What is it?” he asked. Brad made a face.

“No, no, come on, just try it!” he said.

“I’m not eating it if I don’t know what it is,” Vincent said, and Brad shook his head, still holding the spoon of, something. A sauce.

“No trust these days Vin, what’s the world coming to, can’t even trust your own pal to feed you,” he said. “It’s sauce!”

“Sauce of what?”

Brad huffed.

“It's pasta sauce!” he said, the a in pasta longer than it needed to be. Suddenly, something Vincent couldn't see caught Brad's eye and he turned. “Hey Claire! Wanna come try this?”

Claire stopped in the entrance to the test kitchen.

“Sure,” she said, and Brad turned back, lifting his eyebrows and hands like “see?”.

Claire stopped, and Brad held the spoon to her mouth, letting her take a sip. She looked thoughtful, moving it around her mouth, and then swallowed.

“Is there giardiniera in that?” she asked, and Brad pumped his fist.

“Yes!” he said, and waved the spoon a little. Claire leaned out of the way. “There's a little of the juice in it, I didn't know if it'd work.”

“Huh,” Claire said. “Well it tastes good.”

“Score,” Brad said, twisting a little like he was happy with himself. “Nice little experiment paying off there, always nice when that happens.”

“What’s this for?” Vincent asked,and Brad turned his nose up dramatically.

“Not telling you, since you wouldn’t even try it,” he said, and Vincent sighed.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “I’m going back to my desk now.”

“You do that,” Brad said, but he was smiling, and then he pressed his tongue between his teeth. He looked, well he looked like he always did, a bit ridiculous, like he was too big for his own skin, like he might be balding under the hat or maybe the hat was just his own dumb choice. Vincent was so vulnerable to it, and entertained by all of Brad’s bullshit. It was infuriating, but also, seemingly, natural. No one’s defenses held up for long in front of Brad’s good-natured determination that everyone around him was a natural friend. It had been a couple of years now, of following Brad around with a camera, and it hadn’t gotten old yet. Maybe it never would.

Someone was on the phone near his desk, so he put his noise-cancelling headphones on, and sunk into video editing. Editing was boring, but it had a rhythm that made it easy to just sink into, until hours could just disappear while he focused on each frame one by one. When he surfaced, the light was coming in sideways through the windows, just on the edge of sunset. He put his headphones around his neck and twisted, working out a kink in his back. He hadn’t realised it was so late. Most of the desks were empty now, just a couple of people a few banks away still working, a couple of offices still full. He stretched his neck as much as he could, feeling the muscles release.

In the suddenly quiet office, his stomach rumbled loudly. He needed to find something to eat. He pulled his headphones off and put them on his desk, saving his file. It wasn’t a long walk to the test kitchen, and it looked empty, though he could hear Gaby clattering around in the wash room.

“Brad?” he called. “Are you in here?”

Something made a crashing sound in the dry store, and then Brad stuck his head out.

“Hey, you’re early!” he said.

“Early?” he asked. Brad was running his hands down his apron like he did when he was nervous, or he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

“Yeah, Claire sent you an email?”

Vin stared back at him.

“I wasn’t checking my emails, I was editing.” he said. Brad took his hat off and scrunched it up, flattened his hair, and then put it back on.

“Oh, well, that’s okay, I guess.” he said. “Uh, can you just wait here for like, ten more seconds?”

Vin ran a hand through his hair. What the fuck?

“Uh, sure?” he said, and Brad gave him two thumbs up and then tucked back into the dry store and closed the door. Vin tried to peer through the small window, but Brad’s head popped up and he gestured for him not to look, so he shrugged and stepped away. For a minute, he wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He tucked his hands into his pockets, then took them out, went to his reflection in the window and rearranged his hair, then watched the boats in the harbour. Brad did weird things all the time. It was usually an adventure of some kind. Vin didn’t mind as long as Brad took him with him. He rearranged his hair back to how it had been.

The door to the dry store opened, and Brad stuck his head out.

“Okay, you can come in now,” he said, and Vincent made a face at him.

“To the dry store?” he asked. Brad made a “duh” face at him.

“Uh, yeah Vinny, c’mon keep up,” he said, and then jerked his head for Vincent to follow him into the dry store. It was usually full of orders and barely big enough for two people, but as Vincent stepped in he realised there was more space than normal. Someone had wrapped copper wire lights around the steel shelves, and pulled two of the stools from the test kitchen in.

“Brad?” he asked slowly. “What is this?”

“I made dinner,” Brad said, grinning. “And I made it look nice. We’re on a date!”

“On a date?” Vincent repeated, and then felt kind of dumb. Brad took off his hat and folded it in his hands, and leaned himself against one of the high stools. The dry store was softly lit, and Brad looked as good as he always did, Vincent’s friend and bizarre inspiration.

“You said you hadn’t been on a date in a while,” Brad said, which, well, Vincent had said that, because he was always busy, or travelling, and he’d been complaining about it. “So I figured I’d take you out. But then I realised we never really have the time to go out, and also where would we go, so I just made it here. Surprise!”

Brad turned around and took two plates off the back shelf. They were both piled high with thick sandwiches, with a chunk of perfectly pink steak at the centre. They’d had sandwiches the afternoon after the last timed they’d filmed, at a deli in the basement of an old building, somewhere Brad had chosen. Brad always chose where they ate, because Vincent liked to eat and Brad had strong opinions and Vincent trusted him.

“C’mon, you like them,” Brad said, and Vincent suddenly realised that Brad was nervous. He reached forward and took one of the plates and then set it on the steel shelf on the side, watching Brad’s face fall. Before he could say anything, before he could bluster his way into something ridiculous, Vincent reached out and grabbed the wrist of his free hand. Slowly, watching Brad’s face, he turned his hand over until their fingers were touching.

“Brad,” he said, and waited for Brad to look up at him, and watched his smile dawn over his face. “Are you asking me on a date?”

Brad moved his mouth back and forth, laughing with his face.

“I thought I’d skip that step,” he said, and Vincent wanted to laugh. He felt bubbly, like drinking good alcohol. He tugged on Brad’s wrist, just gently, until Brad got the message and set his own plate down, leaning into Vincent, and then they were kissing, holding hands in the dry store of the test kitchen. It was a good kiss, soft, not too gentle, warm all over.

Brad was grinning when they pulled apart, and leaned again on the stool, setting his heel on the footrest so his knee stuck out.

“Who’s better than us eh Vinny?” he said, and Vincent did laugh then.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] easy people](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17840918) by [ofjustimagine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofjustimagine/pseuds/ofjustimagine)




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